Please Don't Walk Away
by My Saving Grace
Summary: Nathan and Haley both made it big...without each other. What happens when their two world's collide? Read and find out! Naley and some Brucas
1. Chapter 1

Nathan Scott wasn't your average pro-basketball player. He didn't go get drunk every weekend, he didn't have a different girl on his arm every night, in fact he lead a pretty quiet life. This is not to say that he was average. He was league MVP, every girl wanted him, and he was worth millions. Everyone loved him especially the paparazzi, they were always trying to catch him doing something wrong… but they never did.

Whenever he was asked about his past, he said he had only been in love once, with a very amazing girl and he wouldn't change it for the world. Then would come the next question, "are you currently seeing anyone?" and the answer was always no. Sure he was linked to numerous girls Sophia Bush, Lindsay Lohan, and Jessica Simpson…even though he had never actually met any of them. Little did everyone know that this amazing girl that had stole Nathan Scott's heart was Haley James, America's sweetheart, Grammy winner, one of the most wanted women in Hollywood. This was before both of them were famous of course. They had been in love, not high school i-love-you-i-love-you-too but the once in a lifetime kind of love. The love so strong that it can tear you apart, if that makes sense. Then life got in the way. She had an amazing opportunity with her music, as did he with basketball and it all became too much. They both just walked away, gave everything they had up and left each other. It hurt. Man it hurt like hell, for both of them. Nathan never thought he'd get over it, and he was right. He tried dating, he wanted to fall in love again, but no one ever compared to her.

Her music was everywhere and he listened to her hit "Halo" before every game, just hearing her voice helped him concentrate.

As for Haley, she too tried dating. She felt like she could maybe have something with Nick, Nick Lachey that is, but she soon realized that they only clicked because they were both still in love… with other people. She thought about Nathan everyday, especially at night when she was on that lonely tour bus going to another empty town. Not empty as in no people, it's just none of those people were Nathan. He was off being a big basketball star, accomplishing his dream, probably not thinking about her at all. Every girl wanted him and the girls in Hollywood usually got what they wanted. She watched all his games, every single one, but always changed the channel before the interview; it hurt too much to hear his voice.

Brooke was her assistant/stylist/make-up artist/best friend/whatever she needed. Brooke and Lucas were still together, why they weren't married by now, Haley had no idea. Lucas still talked to Nathan almost once a week and they talked about everything, including Haley. Nathan always asked him not to tell her that he had asked about her, and he never did. The same went for Haley. He wrote a best selling book about two teenagers who fell in love and got married. Sound familiar?

Nathan and Haley's world's never collided, he steered clear of red carpets and she stayed away from sporting events. Well, that was until the MTV awards.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Here's chapter 2.. I hope you all like it! I love the reviews and thank you to everyone who reviewed. Chapter 3 will be up soon.**

"Haley! Could you focus for like 2 minutes please?" Brooke screamed from the kitchen of Haley's New York City apartment. She had been trying to tell Haley her exciting news for almost 20 minutes now. "HALLEEEYYYYY!"

Haley got up from her seat in front of the TV and walked over to Brooke. "What could be so important that you couldn't wait until after the game?" Brooke never seemed to understand that Haley didn't like to be bothered during the Bobcats game. She always pretended that she just liked to see her favorite childhood team do well, but Brooke knew the real reason, Nathan Scott.

"Ugh, you sound like Lucas" Brooke said as she scrunched up her nose. "I will never understand why you watch the whole game and then turn it off before the interviews. All those cute sweaty boys in the LOCKER ROOM, if you ask me the only reason the game is worth watching is for the after show." Haley rolled her eyes as Brooke winked. "Anyway," Brooke went on "Guess what I booked for you…Alright I'll tell you! The MTV awards. You're going to perform and present! Not to mention that you're practically a shoe in for the Best New Artist Award." Brooke kept on rambling but Haley wasn't really listening because the game was in overtime and award shows weren't exactly new to her.

"…surprise guest so that's like super cool!" Haley noticed that Brooke had something about a surprise guest which brought her out of her thoughts and away from the basketball game. "Wait who's the surprise guest?" Haley questioned. "YOU ARE! Can you please listen to me?!" Brooke squealed. "You're the surprise guest, so no one will no you're there until you come out to perform. You know this means you're officially a superstar right? Only the biggest stars get asked to be the surprise guest!"

Haley thought all this over in her head. Was she really living her dream? Everything was in place, she was playing her music and people were actually listening. But was he listening? Did he buy her CD or watch her interviews? Did he even care? God she missed him. Had it really been 2 years since they had said goodbye? That night had been so hard. They yelled, and then they just walked away. She told him she loved him but he said that he had to leave and so did she. They wanted to remember what they had, before things got bad. They both deserved the dreams that they had worked so hard to achieve. They both walked away, but always looked back. She never really left him and he never really left her. They both just walked away.

Brooke knew what Haley was thinking about. It happened a lot, Haley got that distant look in her eyes and Brooke knew to just stop talking because Haley wasn't listening. Brooke hated that Haley wasn't always happy, she deserved to be happy, and she also deserved to be with Nathan. They were what her and Lucas strived to be. She tried to get Haley to just call Nathan for a long time but she wouldn't. Haley was convinced that Nathan had moved on and she didn't want to hurt him by calling. She would rather him be happy than her find closure. Brooke knew that Nathan hadn't move on, Lucas told her everything but he made sure she knew that it wasn't her place to tell Haley. Lucas always said this cheesy quote "If you love something set it free, if it comes back to you it was meant to be". Brooke always laughed at him when he said it but deep inside she knew it was true. I mean look at them, they had both let each other go but found their way back to each other, and things were better now then she could have every imagined. She just wished that Haley and Nathan could find their way back to each other.

After about 5 minutes they both snapped out of their thoughts.

"So, are you in?" Brooke asked

"Of course I'm in, I wouldn't miss being the surprise guest for the worlddd" Haley answered sarcastically, emphasizing the end of her sentence. Brooke hit her playfully, "Shut it, you know you're as excited as I am."

Haley smiled and nodded, of course she was excited she was living her dream. Little did she know that someone else was being persuaded to attend his first award show ever.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, I just wanted to say thank you for all the reviews. Sorry it's taken so long to update. Hope you all enjoy!**

**Chapter 3**

"Nathan Scott goes for the basket andd comes up empty handed!" boomed the announcer as Nathan watched his most recent game from his house. "Wow that was an ugly shot" he said out loud to no one in particular. It had become routine for Nathan to watch himself play on TV to see what kind of mistakes he made. His most recent game against the Philadelphia 76ers hadn't been his best and he really wanted to see what he had done wrong.

As he was watching he heard the front door open and before he even turned around he knew who it was. His manager, Anthony or Ant. Ant was the same age as Nathan and they had gone to Duke together. Ant and Nathan quickly became best friends and always talked about how in their ideal world, they'd play on the same professional basketball team. Unfortunately at their final year at Duke, Ant tore his ACL so badly that he could never play basketball again. He was a mess and Nathan knew he had to do something. He offered him the position of manager, and surprisingly Ant was especially good at it. He knew the game, he knew all the ins and outs of contracts and endorsements, and he was a big part of why Nathan was where he was. Not only that but Ant knew about his past with Haley and was the sole reason the press hadn't found out that two of the biggest stars had in fact been married.

"Ohh Natey! Where are you??" Ant screamed in a mocking tone. Nathan chose not to answer and continue watching the game, but Ant kept yelling. "NATHAN!" Ant continued while walking around Nathan's large home. "Ah ha! There you are!" He exclaimed as he walked into the living room to find Nathan staring straight at the television, not phased by his little screaming escapade. "Watching your joke of a game are we? Honestly what was that? I mean I could understand having a rough game against the Spurs, but the Sixers…there like 0 and 50." At this Nathan turned around and glared at his so called best friend. Ant began to laugh causing Nathan to throw a pillow right at his head "WOAH! I was just kidding..." Ant said. "Good." Was all Nathan responded with. "…even though what I said was entirely true." Ant said backing up for fear of what large object would come flying at his head next, but Nathan just turned off the T.V. and stood up.

"So did you just come here to torture me or is there a reason for your presence?"

"Well… now that you ask… yes there is! I have a proposition for you." Ant responded

"If this has anything to do with hooking you up with any of the cheerleaders the answer is no." Nathan said shaking his head.

"Rightt because I would need you to hook me up with anyone? Have you seen these guns lately?" Ant said flexing his arms. "I want you to present at the MTV awards" he said while suddenly becoming serious.

"No way, I told you no award shows or anything involving a red carpet." Nathan answered immediately.

"Nate, she's not gonna be there." Ant stated mater of factly. "I already checked"

"Come on you can't pull a fast one on me. There is no way Haley James would not be at the MTV awards. I don't want to go Ant, what if she's there with another guy? I wouldn't be able to take that. Please just let it go."

"I wouldn't lie to you Nathan; I already checked she isn't on the list of guests, appearances, or presenters. She's probably in the studio or something. You need to get out Nate, people are going to think your anti-social. You're one of the hottest male sports stars and you are never at any shows or parties. Please just this one when we know she's not there."

Nathan was silent for a while. He knew he needed to go or he was going to start loosing fans and endorsements. It was just so hard going out knowing that she could be there. He couldn't bear to see her with another guy, or even see her and know that she is no longer his. He wanted her, he needed her, and being in the same room as her would just rip open the wounds that he had tried so hard to close. Did she worry about seeing him like he worried about seeing her? Or had she forgotten about everything they had. Either way he knew he had to take the chance and go to the show when he knew she wasn't going to be there. Plus if she signed on last minute he could always back out due to "exhaustion" or another lame excuse all the other celebrities used.

"Fine I'll go" Nathan finally answered "but I swear Ant if Haley's there.."

"She won't be." Ant said cutting Nathan off. "I promise"

"Alright then I'm there, but NO date. Let them know this sexy man is on the market" Nathan said smiling on the outside but inside it was a different story. He wanted Haley to know that he'd wait for her and that no other girl would ever have his heart. Hopefully she'd see that the stupid decision he had voiced aloud during a rough patch in there relationship was tearing him apart. Hopefully she'd see that he would never forgive himself for suggesting that they walk away from each other. Hopefully one day she would see that Nathan Scott would wait for her, just like she had waited for him when he went to high flyers and while he was being immature once they were both back in Tree Hill so many years ago. What Nathan didn't know was Haley James wasn't looking for anyone else, she was waiting for him. They just needed to find each other. Little did they know they'd be seeing each other in less then a week.


End file.
